Welcome! We hope this site can help you better understand and cope with anxiety as a new mother.

Salima's Story

Salima is a single mom with a three-month-old son, Arman. Salima experienced a healthy, uncomplicated pregnancy and was relieved when she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The first month was a big adjustment for Salima, but overall things were going as well as she could hope...

Jennifer's Story

Jennifer is a young mother with an 8-month-old daughter, Maya. During her pregnancy she felt very protective of her unborn baby and was terrified of having a miscarriage like her sister. For the whole nine months, Jennifer would frequently go to the bathroom to make sure she was not...

Ellen's Story

Ellen, a 37-year-old mother with a 5-year-old daughter, lives with her boyfriend. Two months ago she gave birth to their son, Kieran.

For the first 12 hours of labour, Ellen progressed well. Then her doctor discovered that the baby's heart rate had excessively dropped and was not recovering. The medical team was concerned that the umbilical chord might be wrapped around her baby's neck. Ellen was quickly wheeled into the operating room for an emergency C-section. The staff moved quickly around her, but did not look at her or tell her what was happening. During this whole ordeal, she was panicking and trembling uncontrollably...

Recognizing Post-Partum Anxiety

Having a newborn at home is a time of emotional upheaval, even under the best circumstances. Whether it's a woman's first venture into motherhood or her fourth, anxiety is a common feeling during this time...

Hello from the team

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Are you pregnant or a new mom? Have you been feeling worried or anxious? If so, this website can help. We (the writers) are four mothers with a total of eight children between us. Like most mothers, each of us struggled with worries during our pregnancies, and certainly during that roller-coaster first year with a newborn (and for one of us, newborn twins!).

As mental health professionals, we knew about many web-based resources that help women with postpartum depression, but wondered why there weren’t more resources on how to effectively manageanxiety during pregnancy and the postpartum period. After all, anxiety and worries are so common during this time. So we decided to collaborate and share our knowledge on effective ways to manage anxiety.

Your life is really busy - so we wanted to create a resource that is easy to navigate. If you are not sure where to start, take a look at the Feeling Anxious? section to get a sense of the different ways anxiety can show up for new moms (and see if you can relate). Then you may want to read through the Taking Care section and see how you are doing with self-care. Are there one or two small changes you can regularly incorporate into your day? Next you may want to look at the Flexible Thinking section - there may be some ideas you want to try out. You can then move onto the Facing Fears section, which introduces you to strategies that many have found to be very effective. Take your time through this section, and it can be helpful to find someone to support and encourage you through the steps. Finally, if you are a family member or friend of a new mom who is dealing with anxiety, you may be interested in the For Family section and see what family and friends can do to help.

We recommend taking it slow and trying one thing at a time for at least a few weeks. Some strategies take repeated practice, and don’t really “kick in” for a little while. You need to find what works for YOU.

Disclaimer: This website and its contents are designed for educational purposes only. This website does not render psychological advice or professional services. The information provided here should not be used for the purposes of diagnosing or treating a psychological condition. If you have or suspect you may have a mental health problem, you should consult a mental health care professional and/or physician.